Worthy conversations in an ironic place

Nick Rowley.

Climate change conversations presently happening in Doha are, according to Nick Rowley, worthwhile, although the real decisions are elsewhere.

Rowley, a research fellow with the Institute of Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Sydney, said the irony of climate change negotiators meeting in Doha could not be lost on anyone with an interest in climate change.

Writing in a story on The Conversation headed: “Doha is worthwhile, but real decisions are elsewhere”, Rowley said, “Qatar is hardly a model of the low carbon economy”.

“With annual per capita carbon emissions of more than 50 tonnes, it has the highest footprint of any nation.

“The country’s exponential economic growth has been driven by the export of oil, natural gas and other petrochemical. It’s winning bid to host the 2022 World Cup includes plans to fully air condition every new stadium, insulating the players and crowds from the 40 degree plus heat,” Rowley wrote.

However, Rowley then went onto say that even if the present discussion were to be held in the lowest emitting countries, it was unlikely anything significant would be achieved.